At a media preview today, Hyundai reconfirmed its plans to offer an Elantra coupe. The company even showed it to us, but since we won’t get to share camo-free images until the car debuts at the Chicago auto show in early February, readers wanting a look at the car will have to check out our spy photos. So the news is that the car’s timetable has been shifted slightly: Hyundai originally told us the car would appear toward the end of this year as a 2012 model.

Hyundai Motor America CEO John Krafcik says the coupe “will have a sporty feel with different gearing, as well as a sportier trim,” compared with the Elantra sedan. We take that to mean it will use the same 148-hp, 1.8-liter four as the four-door. Krafcik also reminds us that this is not Spinal Tap. “Think of it as turning the knob from 3.5 to 4.5 on the performance dial. Not up to 10.”

Hyundai expects somewhere around 20 percent of Elantra sales to be two-doors. That figure, however, doesn’t include the Elantra Touring hatchback. The Touring suffix, by the way, may change, as Krafcik will only refer to it as “the five-door.”